A couple of major dating sites, including Match and e Harmony, worked with Morgan to help craft the language in the bill, Morgan said."The strongest tool by far is education of our users," Match spokesman Matthew Traub said.Match does not track the number of scammers who have operated on the site.The notification must include the user name of the banned member, the fact that a banned member used a false identity or might pose a risk of attempting to fraudulently obtain money from another member, and a warning against sending money or personal financial information to another member."It's not notifying the world.It's only notifying people who communicate with the banned member, because scammers typically quickly move communication off of the dating site to emailing or instant messaging, where they can't be monitored," said Morgan, the attorney general's chief of the Public Protection Division.Meanwhile, they try to solidify their identity in the victim's mind, Hayes said."The typical scammer portrays himself as someone who has lived in the United States but is working in Malaysia, South Africa, Turkey, Ghana, usually as a construction contractor or an architect," Hayes said.Scammers claim a client has failed to pay them for their work. In the case of Louise Brown, "Thomas" claimed he needed help to pay for building permits for a road project.When scammers have engaged a victim on a dating site, they usually try to move the conversation quickly to email, instant message or phone to avoid detection.Victims might be groomed for months before scammers ask for money by giving the victim daily attention in the form of emails and phone calls and proclaiming their love.

The notifications would be similar to those that account holders receive for suspicious charges on credit cards or a change to account information on bank accounts.

What she found instead was a thief who robbed her of thousands."This gentleman started talking to me, and it seemed like it fit — and he scammed me," Brown said.

The relationship lasted for about eight months, during which the man, who called himself "Thomas," conned Brown out of ,000 in an elaborate scheme that involved multiple perpetrators."It's bad enough going through someone dying of cancer for 22 months, but when you go through this, this is another kind of loss," Brown said. I felt very stupid."Vermont lawmakers on the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development want to prevent such scams.

Some lacked family support in their local area."Unfortunately, I've seen loneliness as the No.

1 key factor that causes people to be vulnerable in these situations," Hayes said.